St. Joseph's Basilica was filled with hundreds of people Saturday afternoon, all there to pay their respects to Edmonton based soldier James Fitzpatrik, who died in hospital last week.
Several shows of support could be seen outside the church Saturday, including a Canadian flag and several yellow ribbons.
Fitzpatrick died in hospital last Saturday after being injured while on foot patrol in Afghanistan three weeks earlier. The 21-year-old was from Prince George, B.C.
Several strangers gathered outside the church to say goodbye to a man they never knew, but deeply appreciated.
"Everything that we have is because military members are willing to pay the ultimate price," said Edmontonian Rob Templeman.
"It's hard to take this all in…it hurts right inside," said Ronald Garceeau.
Fitzpatrick is the 141st soldier to die during the eight year mission in Afghanistan.
